A Lament Over Israel’s Princes

19 “Take up a lamentl concerning the princesm of Israel 2 and say:

“ ‘What a lionessn was your mother

among the lions!

She lay down among them

and reared her cubs.o

3 She brought up one of her cubs,

and he became a strong lion.

He learned to tear the prey

and he became a man-eater.

4 The nations heard about him,

and he was trapped in their pit.

They led him with hooksp

to the land of Egypt.q

5 “ ‘When she saw her hope unfulfilled,

her expectation gone,

she took another of her cubsr

and made him a strong lion.s

6 He prowled among the lions,

for he was now a strong lion.

He learned to tear the prey

and he became a man-eater.t

7 He broke downa their strongholds

and devastatedu their towns.

The land and all who were in it

were terrified by his roaring.

8 Then the nationsv came against him,

those from regions round about.

They spread their netw for him,

and he was trapped in their pit.x

9 With hooksy they pulled him into a cage

and brought him to the king of Babylon.z

They put him in prison,

so his roara was heard no longer

on the mountains of Israel.b

10 “ ‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyardb c

planted by the water;d

it was fruitful and full of branches

because of abundant water.e

11 Its branches were strong,

fit for a ruler’s scepter.

It towered high

above the thick foliage,

conspicuous for its height

and for its many branches.f

12 But it was uprootedg in fury

and thrown to the ground.

The east windh made it shrivel,

it was stripped of its fruit;

its strong branches withered

and fire consumed them.i

13 Now it is planted in the desert,j

in a dry and thirsty land.k

14 Fire spread from one of its mainc branches

and consumedl its fruit.

No strong branch is left on it

fit for a ruler’s scepter.’m

“This is a lamentn and is to be used as a lament.”